It’s been a while since I mentioned my car accident, so here’s a little update about how all the loose ends got tied up. My car was declared totalled about a week and a half after the accident (there are pictures). I’d been driving a cute little 2007 Volkswagen Jetta rental in the meantime, but of course they made me give that back.
We got a nice-sized check for the value of my car, but I’ve decided to rough it for a while rather than buy another vehicle. Janene didn’t have much left to go on her car loan, so we put some of the money toward finally owning her car, which is nice. The rest went into savings. When the weather gets a little warmer I plan to use some of it to overhaul my bike—new tires, fenders, headlight, taillight, etc.
I did end up buying the book I mentioned in my previous post, How to Live Well Without Owning a Car, and may give a full book review when I finish reading it. I’ve done pretty well so far and this is the coldest month of the year. I’ve got a deal with Janene that I get to buy me a truck when I finish school, so that’s the light at the end of the tunnel. But who knows, I may decide I like being car-free. It’s already saving us a ton of money (our insurance, gas, and auto maintenance budgets have been halved!) and I think it will be good for me to ride my bike more.